if they are unhelpful, you can cancel your direct debit (by writing to your bank, or online) and send BG a lertter saying that you have done it, and why, and that you are not in the business of making interest-free loans to utility companies. Make no further payments until you have used up yopur credit balance, or they have refunded it to you.
If your next direct debit is due next week, I would cancel it now.
When is your next gas bill due?
do you monitor your account on
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/ ?
I do, and I enter my accurate meter reading at least once a month. You can view your meter reading online.
How long have you been a BG customer? Have you got a year's worth of bills and meter readings yet?
BG are notorious for hamnging onto their customers money, making excessive direct debits, and refusing to pay it back.
I read in "Which" that you can insist on setting your own direct debit amount (e.g. £25 a month) and they can't force you to pay more, although they will try to make you think you can't do that.
So I just cancelled my direct debit, as described above. You still get a Prompt Payment Discount if you pay your quarterly bill on time, not sure how it compares with the Directy Debit Discount.
BTW in your own time, check with one of the Switch sites to see if you can get a better deal from another supplier. If you are on BG standard tariff, it is almost certain to be the most expensive for gas.
